Troy teen found guilty after robbery trial

TROY -- The jury in the trial of a 17-year-old charged in an alleged violent robbery and attempted murder reached a verdict Monday morning in Rensselaer County Court.

Rahcief Lyree Collier, of 6 Mary's St., was found guilty of first-degree assault, four counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of first-degree attempted robbery, and one count each of criminal use of a firearm in the first- and second-degrees, respectively.

The prosecution was also seeking second-degree attempted murder, which would have carried a maximum sentence of 25 years to life, but the jury found Collier not guilty on that count.

The ten counts stem from an Oct. 3 incident last year in which Collier and co-defendant Levon V. Newell, 17, of 1039 Sixth Ave., robbed 20-year-old Gary Donnelly, of Wynantskill, and Denaya Tremont, age unknown, in an empty parking lot on the south side of Prospect Park.

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Collier, who brought a sawed off shotgun to the robbery, was accused of attempting to murder Donnelly, who was shot in the upper left forearm during the robbery.

Newell was sentenced on Oct. 18 to 15 years for several counts of first-degree robbery and first-degree attempted robbery, but was found not guilty of attempted murder.